Duncan and Popovich Share Special Relationship

Gregg Popovich has never worried that Tim Duncan will lobby management to get rid of him behind his back. They are as tethered to each other as this city is to the Alamo. For 15 of his 16 years as the Spurs’ coach, Popovich has told assistants, “We have the easiest job in the N.B.A. because of Tim Duncan, because of who he is and the way he conducts himself.”

But here in the land that N.B.A. time forgot — where there is no “I” in team, only in Tim — folks still face a universal chronological challenge. If growing apart is not a problem, growing old is. Duncan, the most minimalist superstar of the modern professional basketball era, will turn 36 on April 25. Popovich, the only N.B.A. coach Duncan has had and with whom he has...

More From This Author

Featured On RCS From

Recommended Articles

Ninety minutes before tipoff of what became his team’s first loss in 23 days, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich answered the question everyone inside EnergySolutions Arena couldn’t wait to ask: Which great Spurs had not... more »

The commercial tells us all the time: There are over 400,000 NCAA student-athletes, and most of them will go pro in something other than sports. And then there's Anthony Davis, and that's a whole other story.
He's... more »

Tom Thibodeau said his players quit. Ka-boom. The Bulls coach didn’t use the word “quit.’’ After a loss to Houston at home, he said his players “let go of the rope.’’
But that’s the same thing. That’s quitting.... more »